St. Mary’s Church in the English town of Whitby, the clifftop church and adjoining graveyard that inspired Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula novel, is once again scaring the hell out of people. Heavy rain and a busted drainage pipe have led to landslides at the tourist attraction which caused gory human remains to tumble down on the houses and businesses below. The landslide opened up graves in the ancient cemetery allowing the macabre debris to slither down into the city. This is the second time this year that the cliff and cemetery have experienced slides that released dead bodies.
The human remains are being collected and reinterred at the cemetery.
The Rev David Smith, canon of St Mary’s church, attempted to alleviate concern explaining that the cemetery had not been used since 1865.
“If any graves are exposed it’s only bones. If anything is exposed, we collect and rebury it in the same churchyard away from the edge.”
Engineering is underway to stabilize the cliff and the church that was built in 1110 AD.
